#skin imported mesh
10 messages in this thread
Thanks for the idea. Can I assume that the "hull" object functions as a
template in the shaper, or can I work with it somehow in the Editor and use
slice to generate cross sections? I make and import almost all of my ogranic
objects from Animation Master, and have a large number of insects and creatures
already built. I'd like to find a way to skin them in 3DS. These are DXF's. If
you have other ideas on how to rescue them
I would be a happy hacker. Thanks,
Sanford
Would you pass along the exact steps required for exporting Animation Master
meshes as DXF? I actually have Playmation, so I'm assuming it's the same, but
I haven't been able to figure this one out yet. Thanks.
–Steve
>> I'd like to find a way to skin them in 3DS. These are DXF's
One thing I did to skin a non-skinable object (the Viewpoint cow on the WCT)
was to use the grid pxp, multiple copies of the cow, and booleans to make
slices along the length of the cow's body, and then use those slices as a
template in the shaper. Did the path from a side view and viola! skinned cow
(no puns please; well alright maybe a few ;^). Just make sure to turn on
mapping; I forgot the first time and the results were quite humorous. Does take
some experimenting to get it right.
John Stetzer
JWS
One of the reasons I dropped "Skin" was that I could not use any of my 3d
meshes I have made in "other" 3d modeling programs. this sounds like a work
around. do you just use the old model a refrence and reloft it? and what do you
need the path for if you are not loftting the object. BTW I enjoyed your Dragon
and spaceship you uploaded. Thanks -Brandon
>>do you just use the old model a refrence and reloft it? and what do you need
the path for if you are not loftting the object
The basic steps for the cow went something like this;
1) Make the grid object and array it along the length of the cow; adjust the
various grid positions to key areas (scaled the grids to fit various areas,
rotated the grids in the neck area to make the grids follow the 'spine' of the
cow) and add grids if nessessary.
2) Make enough copies of the cow for the number of grids, and boolean
intersection each grid with a cow mesh. This will give you the cross sections
to trace in the shaper. Hide/delete any 'whole' cows remaining.
3) Choose a side view of the cut up cow sections and go into the lofter. Make a
path based on the positions of the slices and bring that into the lofter.
4) Go to the editor and hide all shapes except for the starting one. Switch to
a front view (or create a user view if the slices are not aligned to the
front). Go back into to shaper, trace the shape, put it into the correct place
on the path in the lofter, and make whatever position adjustments are
nessessary. Go back to the editor, hide the first slice, unhide the next,
repeat until done.
5) Make sure everything is correctly positioned in the lofter, and loft (the
reason I said make sure the mapping is on is because on my first test I had it
off, used stucco as a quick cowhide for tests, and was amused to see the cow
running through the texture :^). Use Optimize or the freeware viewer Gus did
(at least I think it was Gus; apologies if I'm wrong) to quickly check the
model. Make changes if nessessary.
I did the body and the legs seperately, and both required a little tweaking to
get right (the cow had a_very_flat rear end after lofting :^). If any other
clarification is needed, feel free to ask.
John Stetzer
JWS
Thanks I will give it a try.
Brandon
PMJI, but you ARE lofting the re-constructed object. The slices (not from the
PXP) are used for REFERENCE only via 3D Display in the Shaper. Then you create
the path curve from that reference as well….or perhaps, deform/fit
profile….OR
1) Literally slice up the reference mesh.
2) Create a "blank" cross-section shape.
3) Loft it to give a little thickness.
4) Bring it into the Editor and deform it using the reference slice as a guide.
5) Copy it, name it sequentially, repeat with new cross-sections.
6) Apply Skin and materials by Heirarchy.
7) Create a simple skeleton with cylinders/spheres, etc. for the "bones" &
"joints"
8) Define the skeleton heirarchy and pivot points.
9) Link the cross-sections as appropriate to the "bones"
10) Animate the skeleton, then hide it and render.
BILL
now I am getting cold feet <g> the woman that you are working on is very
good! but I think that skin is a little hard to work with now. I know that a
kinemation smart skin/bone is the way to go. I hope that all mesh Ipaz programs
will work on ALL datasets for ver 5.
good to here from you
-Brandon
Thanks.
<< I know that a kinemation smart skin/bone is the way to go. >>
See my new reply to Sanford K..
<< I hope that all mesh Ipaz programs will work on ALL datasets for ver 5. >>
That's virtually impossible. Spline surface control hulls must have order and
meaningful relationships between vertices….it's the nature of the geometry.
BILL
I still think that a lot of people are still missing the point with Skin &
Slice. Except for situations requiring avoiding morphing, such as skeletonal
control in the Keyframer, you don't need to slice a mesh. You can use
rotations, transformations, F/F Deformations, etc. along with vertex-level
editing for the morphing. If your pre-built object is not constructed with the
proper techniques producing interpretable vertex ordering for Skin.axp, Slice
probably isn't going to help you.
The hull is the lattice for the B-Spline surface. Specifically in this context,
it's the actual polygonal mesh in 3DS…. But you have to look at it
differently. If you want a smooth cylinder for instance, you just construct an
enlongated cube, and let Skin worry about the curved surface. Apply this
concept to more complex geometry. Create a circle in the Shaper with a step
level of 5-10. Now reduce the steps to 0. What do you end up with ? Think about
that when constructing your hulls.
Another 3D/CAD program is likely to produce Skinnable entities if it makes
sense. That is, you're not going to have success if you try to import say
trimmed surfaces, boolean operated-on objects, digitized objects, etc.. But if
you have objects which were created with a grid-like U&V structure, then it's
entirely possible that the vertex ordering may be useable by Skin.axp.
And last & as I said before, if you think about it for a while you'll see that
there are many ways to use problem objects as references for quickly
constructing native 3DS geometry for the B-Spline hulls. This can be as simple
as just using 3D-Display as an aid,…. to literally slicing up (not the PXP)
the mesh and deforming pre-built cross-sections to match. (see my other message
in this section)
BILL